Japanese Beef Curry Rice Recipe from Scratch (Kare Raisu)

Hey guys, it's Yuto here from SachiRecipes.com and today I'm going to show you how to make a delicious Japanese style beef curry from scratch. You don't need curry roux cubes for this recipe because I'm going to show you how to make the roux yourself. It takes time but it's worth it, so let's get started. For the roux, I'm going to be using the following ingredients. 3 1⁄2 teaspoons of curry powder. I used S&B Japanese curry powder but you can use any curry powder you like. 2 1⁄2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 tablespoon of beef fat, 3 finely minced garlic cloves, 15 grams of fresh ginger, also finely minced, 1 whole thinly sliced white onion, 50 milliliters of water, 3 tablespoons of plain flour, 900 milliliters of bouillon liquid stock, 2 teaspoons of coriander powder, 3 tablespoons of orange marmalade, 1⁄2 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder, 2 teaspoons of ginger powder and 1 bay leaf. This roux is enough for 4 to 5 portions of curry so feel free to double or triple it to make it more worthwhile. I also want to tell you now this recipe doesn't make a roux that looks like the curry cubes. This is going to be a curry roux paste. If you want to know more about Japanese boxed curry and how to use it, you can check out my other video. I've put the link up for you. But yeah, you can use this roux in the same way as the cubes and it tastes amazing but it just won't be in the firm cube shape. So we're going to start with a frying pan, heat it on medium and add the curry powder and cumin. We're adding them dry and this process is just to help release the flavor. Once it's slightly darkened in color and it's kind of smoking, remove it from the heat and set it aside for later. Next take a new pan and heat it on medium. When it's hot you can add your beef fat, just move it around the pan like this and then add your garlic and ginger. These cubes of beef fat add extra flavor and actually they're free in Japanese supermarkets. I'm sure you can get them at your local butcher. You can use lard or butter instead if you can't find it. Once your garlic and ginger are fragrant, remove this block of fat and add the onions. We want to caramelize these onions so that they add a deeper flavor and better color to our curry. These are thinly sliced so that they cook faster. Stir them occasionally and if they start to stick to the bottom of the pan, try lowering the heat a little or you can add a small splash of water to unstick them. Just don't add too much water at this point. Caramelizing the onions should take about 30 minutes in total. This step is very important for the taste, texture and color of the curry. Around the 15 minute mark, add 50 milliliters of water and continue to cook until the water is reduced. Once the onions resemble a thick kind of paste, add 3 tablespoons of flour and mix it well. You can also add your toasted spices from earlier and mix them in. Of course everyone knows that curry comes from India but did you know that Japanese curry is based on curry from the UK? It's not too spicy and has gravy-like texture. Curry is one of the most well-loved dishes in Japan. Now we're gonna add the bouillon. First I'm just gonna add a small splash to kind of loosen up the mixture. This makes it easier to mix everything together when we add the rest of the bouillon. Once it's more or less smooth, add some more bouillon and just keep adding it gradually. Mixing each time. Okay, this looks good so now I'm gonna add 3 tablespoons of marmalade, 2 teaspoons of coriander powder, 1 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder and 2 teaspoons of ginger powder. Using all these different spices help create complex flavour and the marmalade adds a nice sweetness to the curry instead of just adding plain sugar. You can also use chutney instead of marmalade as well. Finally we're gonna add the bay leaf and leave to simmer for 2 hours. I know it's a long time but this is gonna be reduced into a roux paste with concentrated flavour. The great thing is the time you put it in now is gonna save you time when you come to make the curry itself. During these 2 hours, you don't need to watch it constantly but just stir it from time to time and remove any foam that floats to the top. Although I'm gonna use this roux to make beef curry, you can use it for any kind of curry. I love using it to make katsu curry which is Japanese curry with crispy pork cutlet on top. So about 2 hours has passed and my roux paste looks like this. Very thick and ready to store. Just place it in a container and let it cool down before putting it in the fridge overnight. I mean technically you can use it straight away but I like to leave it for a night and allow all the flavours to mingle. So it's been 24 hours and I'm ready to show you how to use our homemade curry roux. I'm also gonna use a few unusual ingredients to make my final curry extra flavourful and complex. They're optional of course but I recommend experimenting with the ones you like. So I'm gonna use 1tbsp of butter, 250g of beef shoulder, 1 carrot, 2 potatoes, 600ml of black tea, 1tbsp of soy sauce, 1tbsp of honey, 1tbsp of apple jam, you can also use apple sauce or apple juice, 1tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, 1tsp of garam masala, 1tsp of coffee powder, 1tsp of nut milk, 2tbsp of red wine and chilli powder to taste depending on how spicy you like it. Just before we start, I'm gonna lightly season my beef with salt and pepper. So heat a large pot on medium and add your butter. Once it's melted, add your meat. I'm just sealing the surface of the beef to lock in the flavour and juices. You don't need to cook it all the way through though. I have cut my meat into bite size pieces which helps it cook faster. The shoulder part is inexpensive and perfect for curry. Next add your carrot and potatoes. Again I have cut them small so that they cook faster because it doesn't require as much cooking time as store bought Japanese curry cubes. Add 1tbsp of soy sauce and stir everything around. Cook this for a few minutes. You could also add another onion here if you like chunky onions. I'm not a huge fan of onions so the caramelised onion in the roux is enough for me. Next we're gonna add our roux paste and 600ml of black tea and give it a mix. Tea just adds subtle notes of flavour to the curry without adding any extra salt or sugar. You can use black tea, green tea, even herbal tea but I have to say black tea works the best and I used an English style breakfast tea. You can also just use water or if you want more umami you can try adding dashi. Just don't add anything with salt. I think it will become too salty. So once it's all mixed you can start adding your secret ingredients. If you're not sure just add a little bit and taste. This is the time you can customise your curry. You don't have to add all of these and you can experiment with your own ingredients. I really think complexity is key when it comes to making Japanese curry. So we're gonna let this bubble and thicken. It doesn't take long about 10 to 20 minutes. You can also add some chilli powder to increase the spiciness. It's up to you how much you add. So about 15 minutes have passed. It's time to dish up. Japanese curry is best served with Japanese white rice. It's also often served with these red pickles called Fukujinzuke which add a nice crunch and sweetness. And that's it. Enjoy this delicious Japanese beef curry made from scratch. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this recipe please like the video and subscribe to my channel for more tasty Japanese recipes. I hope to see you again in the next video. Thanks again.